BILL NUMBER: S2459
SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general business law, in relation to credit card
surcharge or fee notice requirements; and to repeal section 518 of such
law relating thereto
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill seeks to establish a duty of care requirement for data extrac-
tors & miners, and mandates these entities adhere strictly to this legal
obligation when it comes to the sovereignty and privacy of an individ-
ual's private information.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one sets the title as the "Its Your Data Act"
Section two amends section 50 of the civil rights law so any person,
firm or corporation that collects, stores, or uses for the purpose of
advertising, trade, data-mining, or generating commercial or economic
value, the name, portrait, picture, video, voice, likeness, and all
other personal data, biometric data, and location data of any living
person without having first obtained the written consent of such person,
or if a minor of his or her parent or guardian, or, if such consent is
obtained, subsequently fails to exercise reasonable care consistent with
its obligations as bailee of that individual's name, portrait, picture,
video, voice, likeness, and all other personal data, biometric data, and
location data, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Section three amends section 51 of the civil rights law to establish the
means of redress for individuals whose rights under this act have been
violated.
Section four amends the general business law to establish the defi-
nitions for terms or phrases used in this act, and introduces the
following clauses in relation to this act: "Transparency of the
collection , use, retention, and sharing of personal information", "Fair
Collection and use of personal information", "Deletion of personal
information", " Access to retained personal information", "Access to
disclosure of personal information", "Consent to additional collection
or sharing of personal information", "No discrimination by a business
against a consumer for exercise of rights", "Reasonable security", "
Business implementation of duties", "Exceptions", "Consumer's private
right of actions", " Agency enforcement action", "Construction", "Attor-
ney general regulations", "Intermediate transactions", "Non-waiver", and
"Severability".
Section five sets forward an effective date 1 year after enactment.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In the 21st century, Americans' fundamental right to privacy has steadi-
ly eroded in the shadow of surveillance capitalism. The passage of the
Patriot Act and the rise of big-tech companies have enabled the public
and private sector to siphon more and more of our personal data, often
without our consent or knowledge.. The institutional legitimization of
mass surveillance and data extraction has begun to warp our society's
very perspective on individual autonomy and privacy.
The commercial sector of the Internet is now being used in ways that
repeatedly wear away an individual's ability to exercise control over
his or her life. Every video we watch, every ad we click on, and every
word we search is now being logged, analyzed, and synthesized by corpo-
rations in order to predict and influence our behaviors as consumers.
The internet is no longer a peer-to-peer experiment; it has morphed into
a data extraction infrastructure that relies on machine-learning algo-
rithms which can ultimately shape our views or control our future
actions.
We have to recognize that life in a society of pervasive monitoring is
not truly life under the rule of law. Businesses that make hundreds of
billions of dollars monitoring every aspect of our daily lives - the
essence of Surveillance Capitalism - represent new, unregulated, and
dangerous territory. The It's Your Data Act (IYD) is designed to regain
individual sovereignty and end abusive and exploitative data-mining
practices, so that an individual's inalienable rights includes their
right to retain control of their own data under all circumstances.
The IYD Act institutes a duty of care requirement for data extractors &
miners, and mandates that they Strictly adhere to this legal obligation
when it comes to the sovereignty and privacy of a person's private
information. Our data is more than alienable property that can be sold
to the highest bidder.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-22: S.4021
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become law.

Statutes affected:
S2459: 518 general business law